In this paper we focus on
the determinants of faculty salary levels at elite liberal arts colleges using
cross-section regressions for the academic years 2001-02, 2006-07 and
2007-08.Our primary finding is that even
after controlling for the positive effect on salaries of institutional
resources (net tuition revenue and endowment per student),
higher ranked colleges pay higher salaries.Colleges located in regions of the country with higher per capita
personal income pay higher salaries, as do colleges with larger
enrollments.Student/faculty ratio,
gender composition of the faculty, and relative emphasis (as measured by the
fraction of degrees awarded) on science and mathematics vis-à-vis social sciences
and humanities have no relationship with salary levels across colleges.Colleges with more emphasis on research pay
higher salaries, but only in the later years.These estimated relationships appear to be stable over time.